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Does anyone know what can be used to get done ambient lighting for the interior like the s class has running along the dash and doors? Has anyone done it?
I was wondering if something like EL WIRE would do the job ? Not look so tacky if it was installed into the grooves on the dash and doors along the trimming for w204?
EL wire looks way too bright to be used in a comparable application as the S class ambient lighting. You would have to hide it perfectly snug into the right grooves to give a similar effect. EL wire looks to be better for cars that already have bright colored lights in the dash or speedo. Maybe it would look better on an AMG or exotic if done right.
I personally think it would look tacky unless it went with a special theme of the car.
MB C220 Sport W204, 18" AMGs, Grey lthr, xenons, p'ktronic, HKardon, Comand nav.
My pal's new C Class W205 AMG optioned has all that stuff. Looks a bit like a Christmas tree to be honest, but he likes it. Colour of lighting variable and lots of outside additional lighting also. Not very Mercedes-Benz though.
Nice do you have more pictures of the install and how did you install them ? and what product is it ? Link? Dimmable?
No Unfortunately i dont have any pictures of the install. I just wired it to the 12v in the glovebox beacuse it is a switched 12v. Just take the plastic panels down in the footwhells and put the wires There
No Its not dimmable, i think the illumination is quite Nice as it is, it looks brighter on the picture then It really are.
Its the same brand that you linked earlier, the difference is that i bought it from the German Ebay
You from Germany ? And where else did you install them? Only in the centre ? Or doors also
No, im from Sweden.
For now i have just installed around the centre, but Im planning to put in the ceeling all the way back to the trunk (i have a estate)
i've done it too around the center consol.
but more a dimmed white light
How did you power both sides on yours ? And what product did you use ? The one I'm finding online has no tab that goes into the console to secure them . How you guys end up securing them? And doa did you put your headlights in yet?
lol no the headlights will go in 11/01/16
i only need to power one side btw because it go's all around the center console.
i used that white el wire stuff, put a tube over it to create a better and stiffer look, siliconed it all around and placed a chrome layer on the top
My 2012 W221 already has ambient lighting but it's kinda weak. It's probably 25% as bright as the next gen S class has. I was wondering whether the reason it's not so bright is simply because of how it was setup by Mercedes at the time. Could it be something as simple as a resistor that's limiting how bright the LED's are ? Here's a few pics of mine. It might look bright enough, but the camera angles and long exposures are being generous and it's really not that bright. It'd be great if I could just remove a resistor or increase the voltage and boost the brightness by a significant bump. Has anyone looked into this idea?
It's not going to be as simple as a resistor. There is going to be a driver network for the ambient lighting array that would need to be tweaked. It's likely manually set to that brightness but through a microcontroller rather than a basic resistance circuit.
It's not going to be as simple as a resistor. There is going to be a driver network for the ambient lighting array that would need to be tweaked. It's likely manually set to that brightness but through a microcontroller rather than a basic resistance circuit.
I've got a service appointment in 2 weeks, I think I'll ask Mercedes to see if they can increase the brightness. If I didn't come back by end of May with good news, then they'll have said no.
I have a feeling you're going to get the typical response that it's not something they can change unless you can speak with a Master Technician who is particularly knowledgeable in coding,
It's definitely something that can be changed IF the ambient lighting isn't already running at max (safe) brightness. It all depends on how far buried in the STAR coding it is and whether it's configurable by technicians and not just Mercedes-Benz engineers.
Either way there's a lot of variables here. It could be that the LEDs used for that ambient lighting aren't very bright even when at max brightness. It could also be that they're running below max for longevity reasons to prevent burning out the LEDs prematurely.
Well, it was like you suggested @Shimee, they said there's nothing they can do. I was feeling a bit optimistic when the lead tech person looked at it and felt that it was not very bright and suspected something might be wrong. But after looking into it and comparing it to another car of the same type they happened to be servicing on the same day, they were identical. It turns out that the orange and white colours are fairly bright, it's just the blue that's not so bright. Naturally it's the blue that I prefer :-(
I'm still gonna try and find a customizer who can upgrade it but I don't hold out much hope. I'll be upgrading to a newer car in about a year which will have the brighter lighting. I might just have to put up with it for the next 12 months :-(
12-17-2015, 01:01 AM
